Often people order a single garment as a sample or for customized designs or styles. Using a knitting machine for single garment production takes many hours, and is therefore costly. The knitting machine used is often in a different country, which increases shipping time and costs substantially. Further, the quality for single garment production, such as a sample garment, is often superior to mass-produced garments.
Fashion designers desire to minimize barriers to entry to the fashion industry by minimizing costs of sample garments, while maintaining high quality garments and minimizing inventory.